Hot water, {{ FIRSTNAME }}? At this year’s CES, there was an actual bitcoin mining computer with integrated water heating in one sleek unit. So it can heat your water and earn you BTC on the side. Hmm. 🔥

In Today’s Open Letter

We send around R230 billion’s worth of small satellites into orbit every year – and this SA startup could power them all…

The first satellites we sent into orbit during the 1970s-1990s were the size of cars (avg. 1 ton) or buses (Onyx 1 was 14 tons and the Hubble Telescope around 11 tons), requiring chemical propellants and high pressures to get into orbit.

Today, satellites are the size of a loaf of bread (or smaller) and cost a fraction of traditional satellites, which is why there are around 15’000 man-made objects in orbit, thanks (for one) to payloads hitching a lift on one of Uncle Elon’s SpaceX missions.

But miniaturisation has a catch: Standard propulsion systems don’t scale down due to volume, mass and safety limits on small satellites. In fact, most still have no propulsion at all, lasting only eight months before falling back to Earth.

Space goes electric

The technology most widely adopted for small craft is electric propulsion, using electricity to accelerate propellant with higher efficiency and less mass than chemical systems, enabling orbital moves, station-keeping or controlled deorbiting.

Bet you didn’t know some electric thrusters are built right here in SA, though…

Building electric propulsion units on SA soil 

Solid State Propulsion is a local startup building a completely solid-state propulsion system for small satellites. Their fully solid-fuel electric thrusters run on the satellite’s electrical power system, packaged in a way that makes them ideal for manoeuvring small craft in space. 

We caught up with Solid State Propulsion Founder Paul Stansell, who built the company after completing his master’s in physics, to solve the specific inefficiencies of existing propulsion options for very small spacecraft.

See, in most crafts, the fuel might be a gas or ionic liquid, requiring pipes, valves, pumps or mechanical components to deliver it. Which is a problem in space: Once something shifts, jams or breaks, it’s a complex issue to try and solve (it’s mos all the way up in orbit), with several high-profile missions being impacted due to a single mechanical component failing.

So Paul explains their unique approach: "Solid state" refers to a fundamental state of matter where particles (atoms, molecules, ions) are tightly packed in a fixed, organised structure, giving solids a definite shape, volume and rigidity, unlike liquids or gases.

In other words, SSP tackles the reliability problem with most other propulsion systems by making their thruster work with fuel that’s a solid. So it’s compact, keeps its shape and works more precisely under extreme vibration at launch and in a vacuum. Jinne…

We’re watching this space.

PS: Wanna be a rocket scientist? Solid State Propulsion is hiring to support production for their US/EU orders. Get in touch.

Who still waits days for a callback after reporting a car problem?

Mahindra South Africa is flipping that expectation completely with a 24-hour WhatsApp-based response system, giving customers direct access to the head office instead of a call centre.

But here’s what’s really clever:

✅ Customers message Mahindra directly on WhatsApp — no ticket numbers or queues
✅ Every escalation is acknowledged and actioned within 24 hours
✅ Issues are tracked end-to-end until resolution, not just logged and forgotten

By putting WhatsApp at the centre of its service promise, Mahindra is using the country’s most familiar channel to do something simple but powerful: listen faster and respond transparently.

What would you build on WhatsApp today?

The one thing most small businesses are missing…

There’s a lot of info online on why new businesses succeed or fail, but most SA studies say SMEs win or lose because of finances.

And it makes sense: Big, successful companies have a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) sitting at the CEO's right hand, running the finance department and making sure they spend money strategically.

Most small businesses don’t have a CFO (‘cos they can’t afford one), yet building a business is just as tricky, regardless of company size.

That’s why Finvoke gives startups and SMEs their own CFO for a fraction of the price.

You get big-league level inputs:

✅ Real-time financial insights
✅ Smart tax advice
✅ Strategic growth

But at fractional prices: Pay only for a few hours a week/month, not a full salary.

Serious about your growth in 2026?

🧙 A Walk to (re)Mordor. The Lord of the Rings trilogy is returning to SA cinemas with the first part, The Fellowship of the Ring, already showing on Ster Kinekor screens as part of Throwback Cinema. “Use the Force, Harry…”

📈 Alphabet’s Big Jump. Google’s parent co, Alphabet, hit a $4 trillion market valuation, surpassing Apple for the first time since 2019, and coming in second to Nvidia. Mega.

🌍 African Languages on the (AI) Map. Kenya’s Masakhane African Languages Hub is launching a project to create high-quality African language datasets for generative AI in a bid to rectify the underrepresentation of African languages in AI chatbots like ChatGPT. You can be a part of it here.

🦄 2025’s Tech Unicorns. More than 100 new tech unicorns were crowned in 2025, with many of these tech companies hitting the $1 billion valuation mark, playing (unsurprisingly) in the AI space. Some interesting stuff that cracked the nod.

🏆 Global Scale Enabled. Deel Local Payroll (formerly PaySpace) had the product but needed to scale globally. So, SA cloud scaling specialist Cloud on Demand simplified the Azure migration and go-to-market for faster launches, stronger performance and steady inbound leads.*

* From our partners. Find all the best service providers for your business in our Founder Stack.

Yesterday, we showed you how Chase Agents is making AI reliable for enterprises, asking why AI isn’t running your ops yet. Most say the tech still needs to mature…

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🧪 It’s still a science project (44%)

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ ❤️‍🩹 Our systems are a mess (23%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ ⚠️ No one wants the risk (7%)

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🤷 We can’t build or maintain it (19%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🧾 We can’t prove the ROI (7%)

We hope not, Meg. At least, we hope more companies can eventually graduate from just “doing something with AI” to finding actual business cases, else the bubble might pop. 🫧

Artisan entrepreneurs (18–35): Allan Gray Makers StartUp Academy offers an 8-month incubation for bricklayers, carpenters, electricians and plumbers. Apply by 30 Jan.

Young climate innovators (16–28): beVisioneers Mercedes-Benz Fellowship offers mentorship plus up to €20'000 (≈R400k) to scale green projects. Apply by 26 Jan.

Eastern Cape innovators: TIA Industry Seed Fund supports prototype development (TRL 5–6) for SMEs and researchers — extended deadline: 31 Jan.

TVET youth innovators: Students, StartUpAfrica Innovation Olympiads land in SA on 26 May 2026 — showcase solutions in key economic sectors. Register by 31 Jan.

Want to promote your event/programme here? Let us know.

💡 Tool to Try: Publy lets creators bundle subscriptions together with automatic revenue splits; higher value, better conversion, more income per creator.

👖 That’s Interesting: Levi’s recommends wearing jeans 10 times before washing them.

🎬 Next Level: Video legend Zack King just dropped new edits — still bending reality like it’s nothing.

🗽 Hack: A visual guide to every comic-book superhero protecting New York City.

🧬 Wow Site: How unique are you? Paths estimates how many people on Earth share your exact life path — out of 8 billion.

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